Exterior work is almost finished at Gotham West,which is an excellent example on how mixed-income developments should look in New York City. The whole projectcontains 1240 units spread over four buildings, with 682 apartments designated as affordable housing. Gotham West doesn’t take up the entire block—the BP station remains, for now—but more market-rate developments of a similar size would help ease the city’s housing affordability crisis.
Designed by SLCE, the main tower rises 31 stories. The mid-block buildings are between 10 and 15 stories, and the ‘dynamic’ height changes add variety to a project that could have been monolithic, given its scale. Despite Gotham West’s enormous number of units, the multi-colored brick facade keeps the development contextual to its pre-war neighbors and in-line with the overall aesthetic of Hell’s Kitchen.
Two blocks to the south, new permits have been filed at the un-zombified Atelier II, a mega-development that will dwarf Gotham West. The development will contain a total of 1,669 units, possibly making it the city’s single largest apartment tower. The height to the highest occupied floor will be 656 feet, so adding in any roof elements should bring the building to roughly 700 feet.
The only possible comparisons to the Atelier II in terms of overall size are the London Terrace Towers and 3333 Broadway, but both of these developments are composed of multiple buildings. The London Towers contain 1,700 units broken up between fourteen buildings, while 3333 Broadway has 1,200 apartments spread over five buildings.
The fact that the Atelier II has almost 1,700 1,191* units in a single building is unprecedented in New York, and will hopefully herald a new era of more affordable market-rate developments by tackling the problem at its root—the lack of supply.
*Update: The Real Deal reports that the new permits cover both Atelier buildings, and that the Atelier II will have only 1,191 units. Which is still enormous!
Gotham West
Gotham West
Gotham West
Gotham West Base
Gotham West mid-rise & new school
Gotham West mid-rise
Gotham West and the not-long-for-this-world BP gas station
New activity at the Atelier II, at 605 West 42nd Street
New activity at the Atelier II, at 605 West 42nd Street
